At one point in time, Nicolas Cage was on top of the world when it came to his career. He had money, he had influence, and he had it all apparently. But there are a few roles that could have kept him in the spotlight a little longer, though it’s easy to wonder if the movies in question would have been seen in the same light had he starred in them since like it or not, Cage feels a bit manic when he portrays certain roles and despite being a good actor there are limitations to his skills that aren’t as easy to overcome now and again. As many people might know, there’s a good chance that a lot of folks still don’t, Nicolas Cage had to sell just about everything he owned at one point since he ran into a bit of financial trouble, and as a result, he had to keep working in order to pay everything off, meaning the reason that we’ve seen him in so many straight to video releases is that he was actively trying to pay his debts and continue to rebuild his fortune. But there are a few movies that, had they gone just right, could have helped him immensely back in the day since they went on to become such big hits. Of course, as I mentioned, there’s no telling what might have happened had he actually taken the roles.
Here are a few roles that Nicolas Cage has turned down in the past.
3. The Lord of the Rings – Aragorn
He was in the running for this role apparently but he wasn’t the top pick, which is a little easier to hear since his acting isn’t horrible, but having seen him in a few different period pieces it’s still not quite up to snuff when compared to many other actors that could have nailed this role. Viggo Mortensen was the right guy to take on the mantle of Aragorn, but apparently Cage wasn’t down with it since Peter Jackson was going to be filming each movie back to back in New Zealand for several years. This kind of makes it sound as though Cage couldn’t stand to be away from home this long, which is understandable. But again, the movie doesn’t feel as though it would have benefited from Cage’s presence at all since watching him in other movies that have required him to swing a sword it doesn’t feel that this is the genre that he’s best acclimated to, no matter what anyone says.
2. The Matrix – Neo
This really feels as though it might have been the wrong choice had he decided to try for this part. But again, that need to remain close to home kept him from really considering the role since filming in Australia wasn’t worth it to him apparently. One thing you can say is that Cage does appear to enjoy being closer to home when he’s shooting, but that could definitely hamper many an actor if no one wanted to travel when it came to the job. Many people might actually hamstring themselves from a career standpoint if they decided that traveling just wasn’t for them, but to be fair, Cage has taken on plenty of movie roles over the years, so it’s easy to state that he hasn’t really felt the need to travel for anything other than pleasure. Obviously, as of right now he’s just about as grounded as anyone else, but when it comes to movies it does sound as though he doesn’t enjoy the prospect of going that far when he doesn’t have to.
1. Shrek – Shrek
Whether he said it or not, the idea of Cage not being able to voice this character because he couldn’t see himself playing someone ugly is kind of funny since Cage isn’t the most attractive person in the world to start with. That’s a matter of opinion of course since a lot of folks might disagree, but the idea of not taking on a voice role because the character isn’t attractive is a bit silly. Still, thinking of what Shrek could have been like had he sounded like Cage is kind of hard to picture since his Scottish accent is a big part of what made Shrek so much fun to watch, and whether people want to agree or not, Cage cannot do a convincing accent that makes him sound like someone else. Even accepting Chris Farley as Shrek would have been kind of hard, as he was first in line apparently, but taking Cage’s voice as the green-skinned ogre would have been exceedingly difficult.
Obviously actors do turn down roles from time to time, but with Nicolas Cage, it’s probably hard to believe since he’s been working so steadily for a while that people have to wonder if there’s anything he wouldn’t do. Well, there’s an easy answer to that.
Follow Us
